Think-Pair-Share Questions

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative diplococcus that has multiple alleles coding for different and distinct pili adhesive tips as well as different and distinct cell wall adhesins called Opa proteins.

The gonococcus is able to colonize and infect a numerous sites in the body, including the urethra, the rectum, the throat, the conjunctiva of the eye, and the fallopian tubes. It can also colonize sperm.

1. Considering the mucous membrane-locations in the body where it colonizes, why doesn't the body simply flush the bacterium out of the body?

2. Why is N. gonorrhoeae able to colonize so many different sites in the body?

3. We recognize pili adhesive tips and cell wall adhesins as foreign and, during adaptive immunity, make antibodies that bind to these microbial molecules. State how this might help to protect the body.